"Gredda's" Build / WTF / Help Me! Thread

[dieselndixie]

I just cant get over how beefy this tie rod is. what yall think about painting it? is it worth doing? should I take it off and spray it, or just brush on? will paint actually protect it?

waiting on the xj steering shaft to arrive...and then the new drag links are going to be installed. fun stuff!

 

[496truck]

Just clean it and spray bomb it. You wheel the truck so stuff is gonna scrape it off anyways. I'd do it mainly to protect the majority of it, plus mud washes off paint easier than rusty steel.

 

[dieselndixie]

ok, well, i have to remove it to replace the wheel bearings and ball joints anyway, so I will do it then.

im ordering some bedliner to spray the interior this friday! basically, i will have a box of parts piled up and ready to install. then i just have to knock it out one by one!

also, i decided to just hit the top with some black spray paint for now. since its currently just primered...that will get me by for a while until i decide what i really want to do about the exterior

 

[dieselndixie]

so if you cant tell, im all over the place! please read like 6-8 posts back when you visit my thread, some times i get ahead of myself!

so last night, i removed my mangled and bent bumper. I want to replace it with something VERY simple, and very homeade! lke a 4" round tube or something like 3" bent with a small brush guard or something.

whats yalls ideas on this? where to mount? how to mount? put tow shackles on it and remove stock tow hooks?

i need any and all ideas. I am going for simple, and the MOST ground clearance possible. not a DD remember.

 

[TREA18]

I can't wait for this. I want the same thing front and back, so build two for me I'll take the ideas if you don't mind.

 

[dieselndixie]

i have a welder, and my buddy has pipe bending access. I am thinking one solid bar along the bottom/base and then some sort of very simple "bull bar" type thing. just something to help if i meet a tree or have an issue with an approach angle. winch is in the plans, but may be way down the road.

 

[TREA18]

That's sounds real good and simple. I've been shopping around for something for a year and can't find nothing, so making one was next on the list. I wonder if someone can draw that up for you so you could see it.

 

[owenst7]

so if you cant tell, im all over the place! please read like 6-8 posts back when you visit my thread, some times i get ahead of myself!

so last night, i removed my mangled and bent bumper. I want to replace it with something VERY simple, and very homeade! lke a 4" round tube or something like 3" bent with a small brush guard or something.

whats yalls ideas on this? where to mount? how to mount? put tow shackles on it and remove stock tow hooks?

i need any and all ideas. I am going for simple, and the MOST ground clearance possible. not a DD remember.

Here's mine to give you some inspiration. Not pretty but it was simple to make and it's strong. Most of all it didn't change my approach angle.

 

[dieselndixie]

nice bumpers....i dig the homeade stuff.

anyway....get ready....there are some BIG plans in Gredda's near future thanks to a CK5 member!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just you wait!

oh, and my medium gray bedliner kit (liner xtreme) should be on the porch when I get home too!

 

[dieselndixie]

yesterdays project.....rolling on bedliner onto the hardtop

so, i know i said i was going to just spray paint it, but when I got to the checkout counter at my local autoparts store with my paint, we got to talking about what i was doing and the guy at the counter showed me that the duplicolor bed armor kit was on sale for $60. So I had to try it....

I went overboard on the prep work becuase I have done spray in liners before and I know that the entire jobs worth, lies in the prep job. I sanded the top down to remove 99% of the factory paint, then I hit it with 2 coats of self filling primer.

Once that was dry (few days) I scuffed the primer with a scotchbrite pad then removed the dust with an air compressor.

Next, I wiped the whole top with some "prep-all" wax and grease remover. and taped off everything that I didnt want coated. Luckily, i am replaced most of the weather stripping on the top and windows so I just left the old stuff on there and just peeled it off when I was done.

Then, after mixing the duplicolor can VERY well, I rolled a very light coat on just to tack up and give the second coat something to stick to even more.

I let the first coat dry (doing this in the garage with a respirator mask) for 2 hours. Then I remixed the can, and went to town with a heavier coat. The heavy coat took long enough that it had been around 30 minutes since I started, so I actually rolled on another 3rd coat, but kept this coat light, with no pressure on the roller. with this coat I rolled the roller in one direction only over the whole thing to ensure there were no "lines"

note to all, i noticed if you roll in one direction, then roll it back towards you, you actually kinda pull up on the rubber bits you just rolled down, making them stick up more....i avoided this method and i think it helped.

so far, the top has been drying in the garage over night, and is out in the sun right now. i plan to do a day1, day30, day90, etc on this so we can all finally see the real deal on this duplicolor/duraliner/herculiner stuff. Basically, if this doesnt turn out well, then its an inferior product.

Here are some pics, its still drying, but I think it looks great. I am expecting it to fade to a flat black, that is the color i was going to spray paint, so i welcome the fading. right now it is a satin black.

 

[dieselndixie]

more..


btw, I did lots of research on this, and I was skeptical to begin with (verdict is still out at this point) I dont know that I would use this in the floor or high traffic area of a vehicle, just because its only a 1 part process. But I think for the top, its going to be just fine.

also, for those wondering...I only ended up using about 60% of the can. This stuff does not have a pot life, so i can be closed and put away. Allowing you to do touch ups, or use it for something else later. The brush and roller clean off easily with water

 

[dieselndixie]

Getting soooo close to spray in bedliner time

well, i spent the day with a heat gun and a scraper removing all the glue from the carpet padding etc....that sucked! and removed EVERYTHING from the interior.

now the last thing i have to do is sand down a few surface rust spots, hit it with some self etching primer, then scuff the paint with my DA sander and wipe it down with some prep-all....and i will be ready to spray. I got my liner extreme kit in the mail, but they sent me black, not medium gray...so i have to wait for the new one. Gives me some time to finish up though. cant wait.

 

[dieselndixie]

did a little photoshop to give me an idea on how the medium gray bedliner will look. im still not sure if I will add all of the "gritty" rubber stuff.

 

[dieselndixie]

I started on replacing the weather stripping in my sliding (or non sliding windows I should say)

The rubber/felt was TERRIBLE. It just broke and crumbled and came out.

But when i went to replace it with the new stuff from LMC, I stopped dead in my tracks. The new stripping was waaaaaaay too thin. I really doubt it would even do any good. anyone tried this stuff? thoughts? I may return it, but then I would have nothing!

take a look.

 

[77_Jimmy]

Everyone here says lmc sucks. Try this place.
http://www.classicparts.com/default.asp

 

[dieselndixie]

cool, thx man, im gonna search their site and see if they have them.

 

[smier]

I can't wait to see what you do with your blazer, I have very similar plans of keeping mine a capable camping rig/daily driver if needed. I'm working on fixing a few leaks up in my cowl/windshield area before I Herculine my floors. I want to be sure that I don't cover up any problems... I've already spent a small fortune in rust repair. Keep up the good work!!!

 

[tRustyK5]

I removed the rubber parts from my sliders, cleaned them as best I could and re-installed them. The windows slide pretty damn good now...maybe not like brand new but 75% better than before. I've dealt with LMC re-pop rubber and won't waste my money on that again.

Most of what was making my sliders not slide was old mud, moss and other debris...all issues that could be cleaned.

Rene

 

[dieselndixie]

I wish I was that lucky....if you look at my pics above, you can see they were so brittle, they just cracked and crumbled into tiny pieces. It was the broken pieces that were stopping the windows from sliding in the first place.

 

[magik235]

Looking good. Lots of progress.